VADOSTA, Ga. -  The Valdosta State women's basketball team returns home to host "Super Tuesday" for the first round of the Gulf South Conference Tournament Tuesday at 7 p.m. against Montevallo at The Complex.
 
The Lady Blazers finished the regular season with a 21-5 record overall and a school-best 20-4 mark in Gulf South Conference play as they are the No. 4-seed in the tournament.  Montevallo enters with a 12-16 record overall and went 12-12 in Gulf South Conference play, earning the No. 5-seed.   
 
The 20-4 GSC mark by the Lady Blazers is the most wins in conference play in a season in program history.  The 20 wins ties for the third-most all-time in GSC history.  Union and Lee each had 21 wins in league play this season, sharing the GSC regular season title, while West Florida and VSU each had 20 wins and Union won the regular season in 2015-16 with a 20-2 league record for the most wins prior to this season in league play.
 
Fans can access the GSC Women's Basketball Championship page by clicking here.  All Tournament games will be streamed on FloSports.  Please note, in order to get GSC preferred pricing ($19.99/mo.) fans MUST sign-up through the football portal to take advantage of the $19.99 pricing.  Click here for the link to the football portal.  Subscriptions can be canceled anytime. 
 
Tickets are on sale now for the game for $12 for reserved seats, $10 for adult general admission and $5 for youth.  Tickets are on sale now and also will be on sale Monday and Tuesday at the VSU Athletic Ticket Office.  VSU students are admitted free with a swipe of their ID card.  Call 229-333-SEAT (7328) to purchase tickets.
 
If the Lady Blazers were to defeat Montevallo Tuesday, they would advance to the GSC Semifinals for a matchup against either top-seeded Lee or No. 8-seed West Alabama Saturday, Mar. 4 at 1 p.m. ET at the Pete Hanna Center in Birmingham, Ala.  The GSC Championship is set for Sunday, Mar. 5 at 1 p.m. ET. Tickets for the semifinals and championship cam be found on the 2023 GSC Women's basketball championship page. 
 
Tuesday's game also will be broadcast on 92.1 WDDQ FM in Valdosta and on talk921.com with Mike Chason having the call. 
 
VSU is making its 32^nd appearance in the GSC Championship and is 24-28 all-time with 18 semifinal appearances and eight trips to the finals. The Lady Blazers have won three titles in 1983, 1984 and 2017.  Last season, VSU defeated West Alabama 72-41 in the Super Tuesday game and then lost to Lee 74-61 in the GSC semifinals.  In 2019, VSU lost 81-73 in the championship game to Lee, after knocking off top-seeded Union 68-62 in the semifinals that season. 
 
The Lady Blazers learned last week that they were fifth in the second NCAA South Region women's basketball poll, released last Wednesday.  Tampa headlined the region rankings, followed by Eckerd and Union.  Lee was fourth, followed by VSU, Nova Southeastern, Tuskegee and Lynn.  West Florida was ninth and Savannah State was tenth.
 
The top eight teams in the region will qualify for the NCAA South Region Championship when the selections are made public on Mar. 5.  The No. 1-ranked team in the region most likely will host the NCAA South Regional Mar. 10-13, with the winner advancing to the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Elite Eight and National Semifinal rounds in St. Joseph, Mo., on the campus of Missouri Western University.  The NCAA Division II National Championship Game will be Apr. 1, 2023, at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, in conjunction with the Division I Women's Final Four.
 
The defending South Region champion Lady Blazers also are looking for their 15^th appearance in the NCAA postseason as the team won the regional at Union University last year as the No. 7-seed.  VSU lost in heartbreaking fashion in the NCAA National Quarterfinal to eventual national runner-up Western Washington, 58-55, in Birmingham, Ala.  VSU is 17-14 all-time in the NCAA postseason with a third-place finish in 1984.  
 
There will be one more public ranking on Wednesday, before the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Selection Show is scheduled to be announced in the evening of Mar. 5 on NCAA.com.
 
VSU is coming off a 72-62 victory at Alabama Huntsville on Saturday and a 66-63 victory at West Alabama last Thursday.  The Lady Blazers used big outings from junior Aleisha Curry who averaged a team-high 16.0 points per game, going 13 of 19 from the field (.684), while she was 6 of 8 from the line (.750).  Curry hit a number of big shots down the stretch in both games to help the Lady Blazers secure victories in both games.  She was 6 of 9 from the field and 5 of 6 from the line against UWA and followed going 7 of 10 from the field and 1 of 2 from the line against UAH.  Her 17 points against UWA marked a season-high.
 
The Lady Blazers swept the season series with Montevallo, most recently with a 71-59 victory in Valdosta on Feb. 16.  In that game, VSU used a 23-14 second quarter to get some separation in an otherwise very tight game.  Curry had 12 points off the bench to lead VSU, while UM's Marisa Snodgrass had a game-high 25 points on 9 of 13 from the field, 4 of 7 from distance and 3 of 3 from the line.  VSU has won 11 of the last 13 meetings in the series and four-straight. The Lady Blazers are 6-1 in Valdosta in the last seven meetings against the Falcons.
 
Heading into the postseason, the Lady Blazers are 13^th nationally in scoring defense, allowing 55.8 points per game for second in the GSC.  VSU is third in the league in field goal percentage at a .433 clip for 41^st nationally, while it is third in the league in rebounding margin at a 3.6 clip.  VSU also is third in the league in steals per game at 9.4 for 68^th nationally and second in the league in turnovers forced per game at a 19.31 clip.  Individually, senior Jirah Ards is third in the league in assist/turnover ratio at a 1.83 clip, while she is third in the league in steals with 59.  VSU head coach Deandra Schirmer is in her fourth season at the helm of the Lady Blazers and is 83-26 overall. 
 
Montevallo enters as the league leaders in free throws made per game at 14.46 for 35^th nationally, while the Falcons are second in the league in free throw attempts per game (19.61 / 55^th) and second in free throw percentage at a .738 clip for 74^th nationally.  Montevallo also has been strong this season from beyond the arc as it is 23^rd nationally and second in the league in 3-point attempts per game (25.4) and 3-pointers made per game at an 8.3 clip for 18^th nationally.  The Falcons are second in the league in steals per game at 10.2 for 40^th nationally featuring two of the top three teams in steals per game in the league.  Montevallo is third in the league in turnover margin (3.64), turnovers forced per game (18.68) and turnovers per game (15.0).  Snodgrass is fifth nationally in steals with 88 to lead the league, while she is eighth nationally in steals per game (3.14).